american television

A great trivia question out there that one might not find too easily with a Google search, and was touched upon briefly on American television by Cliff Drysdale and Patrick McEnroe on ESPN and Mary Carillo, Ted Robinson and John McEnroe on NBC, is the following:

“What was the last year in which there was no sitting on changeovers at Wimbledon?”

The answer is 1973, with the men’s final that year being between Jan Kodes of Czechoslovakia and Alex Metrevelli of the Soviet Union.

Writes Kodes his new coffee-table glossy book JAN KODES: A JOURNEY TO GLORY FROM BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN (New Chapter Press, available for $36.46 on www.amazon.com), “In the course of the entire Wimbledon competition we were not allowed to sit down during change-overs; that got introduced only the following year. My final with Metreveli was thus the last match when players could not rest – there were no chairs. We had thirty seconds to drink, towel off and get back to the other side of the court. It was ok with me. The matches flowed, there was nothing disturbing the continuity. But what a difference a year later, when I played against Connors in the quarter-finals and he sat down at 2:1 in the first set and stayed there for a minute and a half! That made a real difference….”

JAN KODES: A JOURNEY TO GLORY FROM BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN was originally published in Czech and provides a narrative and illustrated history of Czech tennis through the eyes of Kodes and author Peter Kolar. The book, filled with hundreds of unique and personal photographs, documents the successful journey of Kodes from political turmoil of the Cold War to international tennis fame, detailing the early days of darkness and family persecution in communist Czechoslovakia and the complexities of becoming a professional tennis player under a totalitarian regime. Entertaining anecdotes featuring Czech tennis legends Ivan Lendl and Martina Navratilova are also featured as well as the stories behind Kodes’ victories at Wimbledon and the French Open and his two runner-up finishes at the U.S. Open. The book is available for $49.95 in bookstores and retail outlets across the United States and Canada. It is a deluxe glossy photo and text hard cover that fills 548 pages.

Kodes is considered the most under-rated tennis champion of the Open Era, reaching five major singles finals, winning the French Open in 1970 and 1971 and the men’s singles title at Wimbledon in 1973. He also reached the U.S. Open final in both 1971 and 1973, losing to Stan Smith and John Newcombe, respectively. Kodes played Davis Cup for Czechoslovakia for 15 years, leading his country to the final in 1975, where it lost to Sweden in Stockholm. His Davis Cup finale came in representing the team in 1980 when it won the championship over Italy in the final. Kodes has served as his country’s Davis Cup captain, president of the Czech Tennis Association, and tournament director of ATP Czech Open tournament.

Former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport is defending Elin Nordegren Woods, the wife of Tiger Woods, in lieu of accusations that she was too aggressive with an alleged attack on her husband after allegations of martial affairs surfaced late last month.

Davenport, the 1998 US Open and 1996 Olympic gold medalist and friends with the couple told Entertainment Tonight that Mrs. Woods was “very loving, very loyal” and “level-headed.” Says Davenport to ET, “The insinuation that [Elin] would be aggressive or attacking is just preposterous. … She always handles herself with class.”

Nordegren was mimicked for her alleged attack on Woods, that sent the golfing legend to the hospital, Saturday night during the popular American television show Saturday Night Live.

Says Davenport of the now shaky Woods marriage, “Anyone’s wish when they get married is to make it work, and we’ll see if they can do that.”

Davenport, who is currently not active on the WTA Tour, is married to Jon Leach, the younger brother of ATP doubles legend Rick Leach. Like Tiger and Elin, the couple have a baby boy and girl, son Jagger, born June 10, 2007 and daughter Lauren, born June 27, 2009

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal was asked of his opinion of the Woods controversy last weekend at the Davis Cup final in Barcelona and said to the inquiring reporter, “I am surprised you talk about that. We aren’t nobody to talk about his privacy life, no? He don’t have to say, explain to nobody about what he’s doing in his private life. That’s my think(ing). I think he’s a big champion and we have to respect his private life.”